Not That She Really Cared
by Aenlic
Summary: If there was one thing she loved best, it was sitting on the edge on top of the roof of the house, with her legs swinging freely... Yuffieesque.


**Not That She Really Cared**

If there was one thing she loved best, it was sitting on the edge on top of the roof of the house, with her legs swinging freely; there, she could lean back and gaze and count the stars - and watch the heartless scurry on the sidewalk, as they tried again and again to reach her, and she would smile before her shuriken easily destroyed them and vanquished their bodies into nothing.

It didn't hurt her - not very much. All she had to think was what these heartless things did to her hometown, and fury would bubble inside her, but the thought of the people who had perished in the attack… halted her advanced… and left openings…

_"__Yuffie!_"

She was lucky - she had Aerith, she had Cid - and, _oh_, Squall too.

No, it was _Leon_ now.

Either one of them three would call out to her, and Yuffie, being Yuffie, the great ninja and all - would dance and dodge easily, out of the way of the attack and finish that puny Heartless off! _Ha! Take that! Eat this! _Magic didn't come to her easily, but it felt good to watch something of darkness burn away…

It felt good to waste her anger on the things that had hurt her - she would hurt them, make them pay for what they did to her home, to her friends, to her -

She dreamt, at night, of them. They came to her, and screamed at her - for leaving them behind, for not saving them, for…

For killing them again.

Sometimes, she would joke about it - "Hey! Hey! I think the last one looked kinda like that ugly fat bastard, er, what was his name again…?" It was easy to laugh in the face of people, easy to joke, easy to forget, when all they were surrounded with was light and sunshine and hope, but when the sun set, and the moon rose, and the light she could see were but the single candle and the artificial lights on the streets - she found her own heart breaking.

Sleepless, at night, she would wander out, pick off a few more heartless, laugh to herself, make funny jokes about fashion taste - after all, _Squ-Leon never did have any sense at all! _And after she picked up the pieces of her heart, her mind cleared, Yuffie would easily slip back into the house, under the cover of darkness, though this time…

"You went out _again_?"

She shrieked like a cat caught in the act of catching a goldfish - like a cat she had once owned, Yuffie thought, biting her lip as she turned to face the person who had apprehended her. "Yes, I did! I couldn't sleep! So I had to get rid of the excess energy!" She bounced happily and skipped towards him, smiling as she tilted her head to the side and studied him. "Why are you up anyways!"

He merely gave her a look-over, before he murmured something unintelligible.

Yuffie frowned, because Squ - _oh, I'm sorry, _Leon being quiet like this when she had broke a rule by going out by herself in the middle of the night was not a good thing. But, still, she was fortunate it was Leon who had caught her, because Aerith would guilt-trip Yuffie into never doing that alone again and Cid would just - probably cut her allowance. And give her detention, no matter how she would protest, _damn it, old man, we're not back in school, y'know?_ When it seemed like Leon was not going to speak, Yuffie coughed and decided to speak for him, "Well, if there's nothing you wanna talk to me about - because I'm sure you're absolutely speechless at the great ninja Yuffie's prowess of sneaking out so quietly then I -"

"Yuffie," Leon interrupted quietly, "why are you upset?"

She faltered in the middle of her sentence, her eyes snapping upwards to stare into his, and she was horribly sure that now, more than ever, she was trapped. Trying to remedy the situation, Yuffie shook her head, and tried to laugh. "Wh-what do you mean? I'm - I'm not upset, I…" She trailed off when it seemed that Leon would not believe her. He had that _now-really-please-stop-lying-to-me_ look; she had no chance. "I'm not upset," she repeated, but her tone was now - desperate.

"Yuffie -"

"I'm _not_ -"

"I made cocoa."

For the second time in what seemed to be seconds, Yuffie found herself silenced. She shot Leon a surprised glance, closed her mouth and opened it - but no words came out.

Leon. Made. Cocoa.

Wait. Pause. Rewind -

Leonmadecocoa.

"Waitwaitwait!" Yuffie crowed, putting her arms out. "Wait, Leon - making cocoa?" She stared suspiciously at the man, and folded her arms. "Who are you and what have you done with Leon?" The ninja huffed and wondered if some heartless had taken Leon or anything - not that she cared. He was annoying. Yes, he was annoying; she didn't care.

The man sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "Well," Leon started, "if you don't want it…"

Yuffie lunged at him in what was almost a tackle, and cried, excited, "Yes, I want! _Gimme_!"

Five minutes later, she was at the table, drinking a cup of warm chocolate, with Leon, Aerith and Cid watching her; Leon was silent, _again_, Aerith was smiling and yawning, though she tried to hide it - and Cid was just _yawning_ as loud as he could. She pulled the mug away just long enough to make a biting remark at the old man - and he replied with another enormous yawn.

"But, really," Aerith murmured, "Yuffie, you didn't have to… scream…"

The ninja sort of agreed, but she pointed at the cup, _her_ cup. "Look! Leon made cocoa! It's a day to celebrate!"

"Celebrate… _what_?"

"Leon's coming of age as a housewife!" Yuffie replied happily, as she took another swallow - then she frowned. "Well, it's not very good, but at least, you know, he tried -" Yuffie knew Leon was scowling, not because she had looked at him, but because of the sounds he was making. Like, grunt number one, and two and three - what was it about boys and grunting anyway? She decided she was not going to understand boys, not that it really mattered anyway - not that she really cared…

She must have paused, and let slip her face, because the house was suddenly quiet again. Leon had stopped his grunting, Aerith had straightened, and Cid had suddenly broke off in the midst of a huge yawn. Yuffie berated herself, and just as she was going to smile and crack another joke -

"That last heartless," Leon said, "I thought it looked like one of our old teachers… That one with the long hair…"

_What?_

Aerith nodded, and her eyes were focused on the ceiling as if in thought. "Even, I think? Only it was really long ago…" She smiled apologetically. "I don't really remember him right now."

Yuffie blinked. _Aerith?_

"The really crazy one this girl over here didn't like?" Cid asked, joining in. He grinned at her, and gave a thumbs-up. "I hope you gave him the beating of his life, for all those lines he made you write."

And she was laughing, choking on her tears - and the other three people in her life joined in, in their own ways - Leon smirked, Aerith giggled, and Cid chuckled and Yuffie waited until she regained her breath, before she retorted, "I wouldn't do it for you."

_Because I would do it for myself - and for all three of you._

If there was one thing she loved best, it was sitting on the edge on top of the roof of the house, with her legs swinging freely; there, she could be the closest she could be to the three most important people in her entire life.

_owari._

**Notes:** Yuffie's always intrigued me in Kingdom Hearts - I was curious about her personality, because, in a way, she was very one-sided in the game itself. Wakes Sora up, fights with Leon, gives certain information, acting totally cool to Sora("Not that I'd be able to forget you anyway"), and though she was slightly expanded upon in Kingdom Hearts II - but not very much... I've roleplayed Yuffie at certain communities, and she's taken a twist of her own inside my own mind, and stayed even past my roleplaying ended.

_Someday, I'll be back, alive, again, _she told me before she disappeared.

And here she is.


End file.
